Nokia unveils the Lumia 620

by12/5/2012 10:33:54 AM

12/5/2012 10:33:54 AM

Seemingly from out of nowhere comes a new Windows Phone from Nokia, the Lumia 620.

Now recent comment from Nokia and Microsoft has suggested that the budget Windows platform is Windows Phone 7 (or 7.5 / 7.8), but this is a Windows Phone 8 handset for a relatively budget price – throwing that theory out of the window in the process you would think.

Saying that, it perhaps depends on what you define as 'budget'. With a price of $249 confirmed for the US, you can expect something £200+ for the UK. So not premium, but not a giveaway price either. Let's go for mid-range.

For that money, you get a dual-colour handset, designed for a more 'youthful' appeal. Don't get too hung up on the colour options, as there are seven interchangeable shells available, so you can always swap around if you get bored of the shade you opted for.

Under that shell is Windows Phone 8 for the OS, a 3.8-inch TFT WVGA 800x480 ClearBlack screen, 1Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, a five-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, a secondary VGA camera, 512MB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. You can always bump that up via the microSD slot.

Feature-wise, it's very similar to the pricier 920 and 820 handsets, with a Cinemagraph lens, which adds simple animations to still photographs and Smart Shoot for creating a single, perfect shot from multiple images. There's also Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and the exclusive Nokia City Lens, which displays information about local surroundings overlaid onto buildings. Nokia Music is also here, as is NFC support and access to 7GB of online SkyDrive storage.

If you want one, you can choose from lime green, orange, magenta, yellow, cyan, white and black, with a shelf date of January 2013 for the US. European sales will start soon after and a UK price confirmed soon.